On Monday, the federal district court judge in Grocery Manufacturers Association v. Sorrellissued a decision denying the industry groups’ request for a preliminary injunction, which would have stopped Vermont’s labeling law from going into effect in July 2016 while the lawsuit remains ongoing. The court ruled that the industry groups had not shown they faced a risk of “irreparable harm”–that is, that the implementation of the law would impose severe costs on their members that could not later be remedied with a damages award. And specifically, the court found that the industry groups had not done enough to show that the law’s labeling restrictions would force their members to “make material changes in the way they conduct business” to justify freezing its implementation.

The battle lines are now even more fully drawn: the judge’s decision makes clear that going forward this case will focus on Vermont’s actual evidence (or lack thereof) for its position that GMO labeling protects consumers from identifiable harm. The stage is set for trial, and all signs point to a landmark decision on GMO labeling in the not-so-distant future.